List of poor people not quite reliable

List of poor people not quite reliable

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A pedicab driver Awa, 33, says his family has not yet received
any funds pledged by the government for the poor as compensation
for the fuel price rises.

"Nobody from the office of the neighborhood chief has came to
inform us about it. They usually come here only if they need
money to support the neighborhood's activities," he told The
Jakarta Post at his rented two by three meter shack in a slum
area in Karang Satria, East Bekasi.

"Our lives have been getting more difficult following the rise
in fuel prices. No one wants to struggle for us," he said.

Awa said his family and the families of 10 other pedicab
drivers living in the area had not yet received any subsidized
rice for the poor (popularly known as raskin) from the
government. The rice is supposed to be distributed as part of the
government's assistance program for the poor using "fuel
compensation funds".

"Neither have our children been offered any educational
scholarships," he said.

Awa is one of the many low-income earners in the country who
meets the requirements for fuel compensation funds from the
government. However, his name is apparently not on the official
list of poor people.

Aren Jaya subdistrict head, East Bekasi Ade Multaman admitted
that his office mostly relied on a reports issued by the
neighborhood and community units when making out the list of poor
families in the area.

"We received the data (on the poorest of the poor families)
from the neighborhood and community units. Our team only randomly
checks the validity of the data. We then issue a card stating the
holder is entitled to receive assistance from the government," he
said.

Based on the data provided by the neighborhood office and
community units, the subdistrict office then makes up the lists
of poor families in the area. The list is then sent to the
regency office and on to central government through the
governor's office.

The central government then distributes to the fuel
compensation funds back through the chain of bureaucracy based on
the data.

According to Ade, of the total of 13,000 families in Aren Jaya
in 2004, about 1,100 families were now categorized as poor, a
sharp increase compared to only 400 families in 2001.

Ade said his office had yet to receive any instructions from
the Bekasi mayor's office concerning the disbursement of the new
fuel compensation fund.

"I just watched it on TV. I don't know anything more about
it," he told The Post.

The government has promised to allocate Rp 10.5 trillion of
the Rp 20.3 trillion it will save by cutting the fuel subsidy to
finance several programs directly targeted at the poor.

This Rp 10.5 trillion adds to the Rp 7.3 trillion already
budgeted for programs to assist low-income families and
individuals.

The majority of this Rp 17.8 trillion will go toward a
scholarship program, the purchase of raskin, rural infrastructure
projects and health programs.

Ade said that his office was still running the old program
introduced by the previous government to distribute raskin to
1,100 poor families. Those who need such rice must take the
commodity from the sub-district office by themselves, he said.

"As far the compensation funds for health service and
scholarships are concerned, they are directly handled by related
institutions," he said, referring to the Ministry of Health
Affairs and the Ministry of National Education.

"So, I don't know how much money the government has disbursed
for these two services and who the recipients are in my area," he
said.

Ade said agencies that provided health and education
assistance to the poor should report the progress of their
programs to the subdistrict heads.

"We know that many parties have misused the assistance funds
and we realize it is important that the subdistrict leaders know
who the recipients of the education and health services are," he
said.